“With almost 150 registered patents, Cuba has the most advanced
biotechnological industry of all developing countries,” said the president
of the event’s organizing committee, Carlos Borroto, during the opening
session of the meeting that was attended by Jose Ramon Fernandez, vice
president of the Council of Ministers, and Jose Miyar Barrueco, minister
of Science, Technology and the Environment.

British Richard J. Roberts, a Nobel Prize winner in Medicine, and Belgian
Marc Van Montagu, one of the pioneers in the field of molecular biology in
plants, were named Presidents of Honor of the event.

“Improving food production and distribution is an urgent need for the
world and particularly for Cuba.” noted Borroto. “But this improvement
necessarily has to go hand in hand with sustainable development and in
harmony with the environment,” he added.

Meanwhile, Van Montagu pointed out that one of the greatest challenges of
humanity is to preserve the biodiversity and the services of the ecosystem
while trying to feed a world population of more than seven billion people.

“In order to succeed in this endeavor, it is essential to redesign the
traditional systems of production, to implement biotechnological
techniques with responsibility, and to count on the political will of the
governments of the world,” the expert explained.

He also criticized the stance of some non governmental organizations that
reject or regard as dangerous the advances in the biotechnology sector. In
this sense, Van Montagu noted that science gives new opportunities to
explore and find solutions to global problems.

A Commercial Fair was also inaugurated on Monday with the participation of
eleven Cuban and foreign companies.

Biotecnologia Habana 2011 will be running through December 3 under the
slogan ‘Agro-Biotechnology: Helping to Face the Global Challenges.’